


A Little Comfort Goes a Long Way

by rainbowgoddess



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-19
Updated: 2012-03-19
Packaged: 2017-11-02 04:38:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/365047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowgoddess/pseuds/rainbowgoddess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is hospitalized with pneumonia and his lousy mood and grouchy behaviour has stopped everyone but Danny from visiting him. Danny finds a way to improve his partner's mood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Comfort Goes a Long Way

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Hurt/Comfort/Schmoop meme at LiveJournal.

Danny walked down the hall of Hawaii Medical Centre toward Steve's room. His partner had been hospitalized with a severe case of pneumonia. He'd been in the acute care hospital for three days now, and it was looking like he'd be there for the rest of the week.

Hesitating in the doorway of Steve's room for a moment, Danny took a good look at his partner. He might be getting better physically, but emotionally was another matter.

Steve was suffering from a severe case of “feeling sorry for himself.” It wasn't hard to do when you were sick. From talking to the nurses and to Steve's doctor, Danny had learned that even though Steve was recovering, it would still be a while before he was back to his old self. He was lacking his usual energy, and he still had a fever.

“Hey, Babe,” Danny said as he walked in the room. “How are you feeling?”

“How do you think I feel?” Steve grumbled. “I feel lousy.”

“Have you seen your doctor today?”

“Yeah, I saw her about an hour ago. She said I'm getting better. 

I don't feel better, though.”

“Did you ask her why you're not feeling better?” Danny asked.

Steve shrugged and coughed for a moment. “No. Why bother? Doctors just give you platitudes and tell you to have a positive attitude and all that kind of crap.” He looked at Danny. “So why are you here?”

“To visit you,” Danny answered. “Because you're my partner.”

“No one else comes to visit me. I figured you'd have stopped by now, too.” Unfortunately, Steve had been a lousy patient, and he'd snapped and growled enough at Kono and Chin that the two of them had stopped visiting him. Even Kamekona hadn't come by more than once.

“I'm your partner, and I'm your friend,” Danny insisted.

“You shouldn't feel obligated to come and see me just because I'm your partner.” Steve turned over so that his back was to Danny. “Look, you've fulfilled your obligation now, so on your way out, tell someone to turn up the heat in here. I'm cold.” Having a fever was giving Steve the chills.

Danny decided that he'd had enough of a grown man, who happened to be a Navy SEAL, sulking like a child. It was time for some drastic action. First he closed the door. Then he toed off his shoes, removed his shirt, and climbed into bed behind Steve. He unfastened the ties on the back of Steve's hospital gown, slipped his arms around his partner from behind, and held him close, skin to skin.

“Wh... What are you doing?” Steve asked. Danny could feel him tense up in surprise.

“Body heat,” Danny told him. “It'll help you warm up.”

Steve didn't seem to have an answer or a smart remark in response to that. Instead, Danny could feel him begin to relax. 

“Better?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Steve said, sounding almost surprised. “That helps. Thanks.”

“You want to talk about why you've been acting like a bear with a thorn in its paw ever since you got here?” Danny wanted to know.

“Because, as I told you, I feel like crap,” Steve said defensively.

“Not buying it, Babe,” Danny responded. “I've seen you before when you've been injured, and you didn't act like this. Now spill it. What's really going on?”

With a sigh, Steve said, “I'm stuck here. At least when I was hurt before, I was released pretty quickly. Now I'm here for at least a week, and even when they release me I won't be up to my usual speed right away. You guys are out there fighting bad guys without me, and I hate it. I worry about you — all of you,” he added after a moment, “and I'm also envious.”

Danny held Steve a little tighter. “I kind of know how you feel,” he said. “It's not the same, because I wasn't stuck in the hospital. But when I hurt my knee, I had to sit back and watch you guys go out and do all the dangerous stuff while I was stuck behind the scenes, so to speak. When you were out on the Missouri with a guy holding a gun to your head, and I had to listen to it and couldn't do anything....” He shuddered.

Steve rolled over so that they were facing each other and took his partner in his arms. “You never told me that was so hard for you. I should have realized. I'm sorry.”

Hardly even realizing it, Danny started stroking Steve's hair, touching where he imagined the gun had been pointed. “Nothing to be sorry for, Babe. You were the one with the gun to his head. What I was feeling was nothing, compared to that.”

“Your feelings are never 'nothing,'” Steve answered. “except, of course, when it comes to pineapple on pizza.”

Neither of them knew who initiated the kiss. It seemed to happen naturally.

“Danny,” Steve asked, “did we just kiss?”

“I sure hope we did.”

“Are you okay with that?”

Danny smiled. “I am definitely okay with that.”

“So can we do it again?”

In response, Danny kissed him.

They stayed in the bed, holding each other and kissing occasionally, until a chime sounded that indicated the end of visiting hours.

Reluctantly, Danny got out of Steve's bed and put his shirt and shoes back on. Steve got up too, hugged Danny tightly and kissed him one more time. “I wish you didn't have to go,” he said. “Now I have another reason to want to leave this place.”

Danny removed his wristwatch and fastened it around Steve's wrist. “Visiting hours start again in,” he looked at the sign on the wall, “14 hours. If I'm not working on a case, I will be back then. Just keep an eye on the watch, and count the hours until I'm back again.”

“What if you're working on a case?” Steve asked, in a way that was remarkably petulant for a man of his age.

Danny indicated Steve's room phone. “Then I will call you and tell you. I know you worry,” he added, “so I'll keep you updated as much as I can — okay?”

“Okay,” Steve sighed.

“Listen to me,” Danny said. “I love you. I want you to remember that. I love you.”

Steve broke out in a huge grin. He grabbed Danny and pulled him close. “I love you, too,” he said, burying his face in Danny's hair.

Just then a nurse walked into the room. “Ahem,” she said loudly. “Visiting hours are over. I'm sorry.” She looked at the two men. “I will give you” — she looked at her watch — “five minutes. Then you have to leave. Understand?”

The two of them nodded, and the nurse left.

“Are you going to behave yourself while I'm gone?” Danny asked.

“I will,” Steve replied. “Knowing that you love me makes me feel better already. It also improves my mood.”

They kissed once more, exchanged “I love yous,” and Danny left, encountering the nurse in the hallway.

“How do you put up with him?” the nurse asked. “He's been impossible to deal with since he was admitted.”

Danny grinned at her. “You just have to know how to handle him.”

End


End file.
